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Do You Have a Back Up Phone?

nburwell

nburwell

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 6, 2008
5,616
2,503
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Although I am very careful with my iPhone, I never really thought about having a cheapo phone (or another smartphone) as a backup in case I dropped my iPhone or anything like that.

With that said, does anyone have a backup phone to their iPhone? For instance, if you're going to the beach, do you bring your iPhone with you? Or do you swap your SIM card out and put it in a flip phone or another less expensive phone?
 
I have a back-up phone... another iPhone. :D It's a first-gen that I bought used for a fantastic price about a year and half ago. It's quite beaten up already (it was that way when I got it) and I don't worry at all about taking it anywhere. It's unlocked and jailbroken and is also used to experiment with when I see new themes or jailbroken apps I want to try.

I like the idea of a back-up phone in case of loss or theft and particularly an old iPhone as a back-up given how much I rely on some apps and the level of connectivity it offers.
 
r6girl said:
I have a back-up phone... another iPhone. :D It's a first-gen that I bought used for a fantastic price about a year and half ago. It's quite beaten up already (it was that way when I got it) and I don't worry at all about taking it anywhere. It's unlocked and jailbroken and is also used to experiment with when I see new themes or jailbroken apps I want to try.

I like the idea of a back-up phone in case of loss or theft and particularly an old iPhone as a back-up given how much I rely on some apps and the level of connectivity it offers.
Click to expand...

I have a Nokia E72 as a back up. Actually I use the Nokia as a wifi access point at times with JoikuSpot. Works great and the iPhones has no idea that data is being routed via 3G.
 
as a backup to my 3GS i have a first gen iphone and a motorola droid.

I use google voice so i can switch between phones (preferably another smartphone)

i also have a skype number that is associated with my google voice number. so i can essentially use any PC as my phone.
 
Don't understand why anyone would keep a back-up phone that's worth few hundred bucks.

I have plenty of old phones from pre-iphone era, and I have every intent to replace the iphone if I was to lose it. But if I was really in a crunch for a replacement, I would buy the cheapest go phone I can find.
 
elfxmilhouse said:
I use google voice so i can switch between phones (preferably another smartphone)

i also have a skype number that is associated with my google voice number. so i can essentially use any PC as my phone.
Click to expand...

I am confused...do you have 3 phones with different sim cards and numbers? If not, how does google voice have anything to do with you swapping sim cards in each phone?

Google voice allows you to dial out using landline, you can essentially use a payphone if you want. Why pay for skype?
 
I still have my G1 on T-Mobile (for another year) that I use when I go fishing or to the amusement park. I guess once my contract is up, I'll buy a cheap dumb phone as a backup.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
I am confused...do you have 3 phones with different sim cards and numbers? If not, how does google voice have anything to do with you swapping sim cards in each phone?

Google voice allows you to dial out using landline, you can essentially use a payphone if you want. Why pay for skype?
Click to expand...

i have two numbers. one with ATT and one with Verizon. (one if from work and one is just a personal line).

i dont have a landline. i use skype so i can take calls from a computer.
 
My GF has a couple of pretty old and beat up BB Curves, but it comes in handy if I ever need a phone when I dont want to take my iPhone, such as me going to SeaWorld last week. I tend to use a ziplock bag with my iPhone, but better safe than sorry.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
My GF has a couple of pretty old and beat up BB Curves, but it comes in handy if I ever need a phone when I dont want to take my iPhone, such as me going to SeaWorld last week. I tend to use a ziplock bag with my iPhone, but better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...

I ziploc my phone too if it's kind of rainy out.
 
I have an old Samsung slider phone that sits in my closet. It's a good phone by itself, all it really does is make phone calls and text, which is what I would need in the event that my iPhone dies.
 
I have an old LG flip phone, that I could pull out in an emergency. While I am pretty careful about my phone, if something were to happen to it, I would just most likely bite the bullet and buy a replacement for it.
 
I still have my old 3G. But I've never gone anywhere bad enough that I felt the need to swap out the SIM from my 3GS. But it's nice to know I have the option just in case. My wife uses the old 3G as an iPod touch (i.e. no cell service - just wifi).
 
Yup. I still have my old beat up 3G. I have it jailbroken so it's nice to see what's going on in that world still since my 3Gs is on 3.1.3.
 
I kept my old sony ericsson as a backup for a while but then i realised the iphone is a lot more durable than i gave it credit for so i ditched the SE and now i just have the iphone
 
if something happened to my iPhone I'd just go out and buy a gophone for the time being.
 
wacky4alanis said:
I still have my old 3G. But I've never gone anywhere bad enough that I felt the need to swap out the SIM from my 3GS. But it's nice to know I have the option just in case. My wife uses the old 3G as an iPod touch (i.e. no cell service - just wifi).
Click to expand...

Same boat as me, except my soon-to-be-wife has her 8GB 1st Gen that I got her a little bit back (to use as an iPod Touch). It's nice to know that I can just swap sims and not f up my 3GS :)
 
I kept my AT&T Fuze because it can hold a phone call longer than 5 minutes at home, a feat the iPhone has yet to match. Also a Tilt, a couple other WinMo phones and a bag full of cheap junk.
 
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